


on the basis of names

by miribees



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Bro-regard Lionette, Gen, Group Bonding, I did try very hard, I love writing for critical role bc everything will be obsolete in a week. nice, backstory time!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-25 10:34:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17723537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miribees/pseuds/miribees
Summary: It was several hours before they stopped running, Nott slung over Yasha's chest and shoulder as if her small goblin form weighed nothing at all. Still, the barbarian was careful not to jostle her. Yasha had experienced burns before, of course, but her assessment of the days events told her Nott's pain would be beyond her comprehension. So she held her gently but firmly and whispered a prayer of healing. It wasn't much, but it was what she could do.As the group beds down and tries to recover from the disastrous encounter the day before, tensions run a little high when Beau asks a loaded question.





	on the basis of names

_It was several hours before they stopped running, Nott slung over Yasha's chest and shoulder as if her small goblin form weighed nothing at all. Still, the barbarian was careful not to jostle her. Yasha had experienced burns before, of course, but her assessment of the days events told her Nott's pain would be beyond her comprehension. So she held her gently but firmly and whispered a prayer of healing. It wasn't much, but it was what she could do._

_\----_

"It's... 11:00 o'clock", Caleb huffed out through gritted teeth, pausing to brace himself with his hands on his knees, and the party slowed their march around him before stumbling to a stop.

"Are you going to throw up again, Caleb?" Jester queried with a groan, taking the moment of rest to stretch her tired limbs.

_"... Nein."_  

"Well, I still think we should rest here probably. You're pretty wimpy, Caleb, you shouldn't exhaust yourself. And the sooner Deucy and I have a long rest, the sooner we can pump Nott full of healing magic and stuff!"

"... 'm fine, I barely feel it." Nott's voice drifted over in a whisper, raspy and cracking even for the normally shrill goblin.

"Ah, well... that's called shock, Nott." Caduceus' serene tones rumbled through the tunnel as he began to set up a modest bedroll. For a moment there as only the sound of shuffling cloth and Caleb setting up the group's usual protective bubble. Yasha gently laid Nott down before retreating to the farthest wall as Caleb and Caduceus set up a makeshift sickbay, with Jester helping Caduceus to mix a salve of soothing herbs for Nott as she grumbled herself into a merciful sleep. It seemed that left Fjord as the lone watchman, leaning up against the cave wall between the party proper and the direction from which they'd came. He idly summoned the falchion and watched the salt water drip from it's curved edge.

_drip, drip, drip-_

"Hey, Fjord!"

Beau's rough voice hit his ear and he fumbled the falchion in his grip, turning in time to see the monk skipping lightly over the arranged beds and coming to a neat landing in front of him.

" _Shit,_ Beau, you're gonna give a man a heart attack." He hissed, and Beau shrugged.

"I'd say I have that effect on men, but honestly I'm getting kinda grossed out even thinking about it."

Fjord sighed, letting the falchion disappear.

"Where were you?"

Beau pointed back over her shoulder. "Just went to check ahead a bit, since Nott's outta commission. It's safe, by the way. You're welcome."

"And what did we learn today about the buddy system?"

"Hypocrite, you were gonna stay up all on your lonesome and we have a fuckin' safety bubble. Also I took Frumpkin."

"First of all, better safe than sorry. Secondly,  _thank you_ for volunteering your company, Beau." 

The monk gave a noncommittal shrug as she leaned her back against the wall beside Fjord. A beat passed.

"Y'know, Fjord, there was something I meant to ask you earlier. Not about the giant stuff. Or the super boring stuff. During all the, uh, touchy-feely personal stuff."

"And what's that?"

Beau gave a vague gesture to the party around them, settled into their small corner of the dark underground tunnel. "So, everyone's got a bunch of different names, right?" If she noticed a chill run through the cavern, she paid it no mind. "Nott is 'Veth Brenatto', Caleb is..." she stopped as Caleb shot to attention from under his coat and gestured to her sharply, "... his other name we all heard already." The pile of scrawny man and coat descended back into a comfortable lump. Beau cleared her throat and continued.

"And, I don't know if I exactly told you guys; maybe I did and I forgot, I don't fuckin' remember. But, uh. My name's Beauregard Lionette. As in the Lionette wine estate." She stopped to survey Fjord. He looked blankly back. "Nothin'? Not ringing a bell? Okay. Right, you're not from the Empire. Anyway. We know Jester's name, and Caddy's name, so I was just wondering about you, dude.

Fjord balked. "What about Yasha? She's just "Yasha", she doesn't have any other names and I don't see you bugging her about it."

Beau paused. "Shit, I didn't think of that." Their gaze shifted simultaneously to find the pale barbarian, who was suddenly pressing herself very hard against the wall as if it could shield her massive frame from their attention. There was a split second stare-down while she seemed to think.

"That is..." Yasha's soft voice began, but trailed off quickly. Leaning the Magicians Judge against the wall, she shuffled over to find Caduceus and whispered in his ear. Caduceus listened intently, whispering something and giving a gentle touch on her arm back before turning his attention to Fjord.

"Yes, she does. It's personal."

"Well shit, don't you think _my_ name might be a 'personal subject'?" He bit down on his lip, feeling small tusks dig in from the inside-

Beau stepped several steps back, arms out and open in what she could only hope looked like a conciliatory gesture and not as if she was going to grapple him.

"Calm down, Fjord, you don't gotta tell us, I just wanted to know if you had one in c-"

"Oh, I  _had_ one." He spits out, and Beau dropped her arms. Moving slowly back towards the pile of beds, she grabbed her own mat and pulled a half-asleep Jester out of hers, dragging both back towards Fjord. She laid out the mat and sat crosslegged facing him, Jester kneeling beside her, and now both were looking at him with... some kind of tenderness. Fjord's eyes flicked over to Caduceus, who gave a small wave and turned away as if to provide a sense of privacy. Jester patted the earth by them and Fjord reflexively sat. He focused his gaze into the tightly packed earth and away from their waiting faces before beginning his measured speech.

"Y'all know I was an orphan. If either of my parents had names, they sure didn't tell me. I arrived at the orphanage with the clothes on my back and my name. I don't even remember who first called me "Fjord". Probably just another kid on the streets givin' me a nickname."

"Fjord..." Jester's voice was soft, and Fjord glanced up at her face, sympathy etched over every feature. No pity, which was a blessing. He continued.

"The... people who ran that place gave me a name. They gave all us kids some stupid names we didn't ask for. I remember mine. But it isn't relevant because it's never been me, and it never  _will_ be me. I arrive there with my name, my only name, and that's just... Fjord." He was still staring at them, beginning to pick absently at his mouth before Jester reached forward and swatted the offending appendage down with a deft blue hand. "Uh. Thank you."

"Of course."

...

Beau cleared her throat loudly to break the dead air, earning her a soft _"Shhhh"_ from Caduceus' direction. She gave an apologetic hand wave before speaking.

"Well, if we know anything about us as a group, it's that we're not gonna judge on the basis of names. I'm sorry for prodding, Fjord. And, thanks for telling us how you feel. But hey, look at me! My last name means shit-all since I got disowned. Names are bullshit." She punctuated the statement with a smirk and exaggerated shrug, which made Jester giggle.

"Yeah, there's no need to be so serious about names! I loved the name my mama gave me but I still chose to be called Jester, you know?" Fjord studied her face. If this was another one of her bluffs, her cheerful expression wasn't showing it.

"You picked your own name, Jester?"

She nodded like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It's a tiefling thing! We pick a name that like, you know, represents us! And I think Jester represents me. Now that I think about it, Molly also picked himself a new name, but that maybe had more to do with the whole amnesia thing..."

Fjord chuckled, the sound leaping out almost without his knowledge at the thought of one Mollymauk Tealeaf.

"... Besides, if you ever decide you do want another name, you could  _totally_ have mine-"

"Whoooaaaa-kay, okay, let's put a pin in that one for now, uh. Sure is gettin' late, huh-" Fjord stammered and rubbed at his mouth, which made Jester laugh again.

"You're smiling! You're smiiiiiiling, you cant hide it from me!" She beamed, and Beau snickered at Fjord's floundering. He sighed, dragging his hands down his face before climbing to his feet.

"C'mon, clerics need to get sleepin'. We're gonna need you tomorrow." He extended a hand, and Jester took it with a smile, pulling herself to her feet effortlessly while Fjord found himself nearly pulled over by her strength. She brushed off her knees and let out a small yawn.

"G'night Beau, g'night Fjord." She skipped away and crawled back into her bedroll, and Beau knocked Fjord in the ribs lightly.

"You good?" 

"... One more thing." Fjord crossed quietly over to where Nott laid, Caduceus still keeping a vigil over a steaming cup of tea. Fjord crouched down to examine her; she was stripped to her smallclothes and the exposed burns were covered in salve, a thin blanket placed over her midsection that moved up and down, up and down...

"It's not polite to stare", Caducues murmured, and Fjord sighed.

"You think she'll sleep through the night?" he whispered, and Caduceus shrugged.

"We can hope. But if she does wake up, Jester and I will be right here."

"Thanks, Deucy. You get some rest in the meantime. Beau and I are gonna keep an eye on the tunnel for our giant friends; we may have the bubble, but we don't wanna be sitting ducks if they find us." He shifted slightly, locating the dirty brown coat that was moving gently behind Nott's bed. "Caleb, we'll maybe grab you to take over in a couple hours, alright? Borrow Beau's goggle things so you can see without a light." A moment passed before a pale hand poked out with a brief thumbs up before retreating.

"Alright. We'll just see what tomorrow brings." With that, Fjord made his way back over to Beau, and the duo stood guard in a comfortable silence.

\----

It was an uneventful hour or so before before Beau piped up again in a whisper.

"Hey, Fjord."

"What now?"

"I was just thinking. I'm trying to be, like, honest? So I wanted to say why I was bugging you about your name anyway. Cause I still feel like a bit of dick"

"That's debatable, but shoot."

Beau shifted, working her staff over in her hands and taking a breath.

"It was in case we ever have to bury you, and like, make a marker or something so everyone'd know exactly who's under there and not to fuck with 'Fjord Whoever' of the Mighty Nein, you know?" Fjord paused, before turning to stare at her.

"... do you think about us dying a lot?"

Beau shuffled where she sat. "Maybe."

"... 'Fjord of the Mighty Nein' has a certain ring to it."

"Really!?"

"Don't fuckin' repeat that to anyone."

Beau snorted, laying her staff over her knees and relaxing back against the wall. "Aye aye, Captain."

"Nope, nope; we are balls deep in the molten core of the earth, I am  _not_ the captain anymore."

"Fine then. I'm the captain now."

"You're a captain I'd follow." Fjord leaned his head over to look at Beau, who was suddenly very invested in picking at the ribbon tied to her staff.

"... Thanks, Fjord." 

"No problem, Beau."

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> this started with my headcanon about fjord's name origin. he's not hiding anything y'all, he doesn't have anything *to* hide. my low wisdom boy. what a fucker.
> 
> i'm actually pretty happy with how this turned out, i edited it myself so i hope there aren't too many mistakes.  
> thank you to the fjorester discord fam for always having that good good meta, and juno for throwing down the gauntlet and challenging me to actually finish this lmao <3


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